New iCrossing Collaboratory Launches to Cultivate Innovation With Brands and Industry Partners

iCrossing's Constance DeCherney Promoted to Head Collaboratory

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Feb 18, 2014) - iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency, today announced the launch of the iCrossing Collaboratory, a new program dedicated to developing innovative partnerships between brands and industry-leading platforms, publishers, start-ups and creative technologists to solve challenges, create market opportunity and build brand momentum.

The iCrossing Collaboratory connects the agency's clients with industry players to solve business problems through innovation and collaboration. With this program, brands will have access to new technology platforms, beta launches and other exclusive opportunities that will generate first-to-market ideas and enhance customer experiences.

"As CMOs are challenged to re-imagine the customer experience and re-invent the future of their brands, they look to agencies to be innovation partners. With the Collaboratory, we are able to unleash ground-breaking and unprecedented ideas that will push their businesses forward," said Brian Powley, global president at iCrossing.

The iCrossing Collaboratory has already begun work with inaugural partners, such as Adaptly -- a unique platform that increases brand engagement by harnessing the untapped value of social networks. iCrossing's partnership with Adaptly netted access to exclusive beta opportunities and produced a significant improvement in social media ad performance. For example, using Adaptly's technology for a CPG client, iCrossing drove a 100% increase in engagement rate and a 30% lower cost per click (CPC).

"By partnering with iCrossing and their clients, we've been able to execute new programs that are driving exceptional brand engagement," said Sean O'Neal, president of Adaptly. "We're pleased to be a founding member of the Collaboratory, and look forward to continued innovation with iCrossing."

Other founding iCrossing Collaboratory partners include Bankrate, Brandwatch, Evidon, Google, Mass Relevance, Sherpaa, Stipple, and Yext. Each is currently working on a project within the Collaboratory.

Constance DeCherney was promoted to vice president, strategic partnerships to head the Collaboratory. Prior to this role, DeCherney served as senior director of strategy at iCrossing and led a portfolio of clients including DIRECTV and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

"Collaboration is the new currency," said DeCherney. "For brands to excel in today's market, strong partnerships provide a critical advantage. Our goal in founding the Collaboratory is to explore, create and scale ideas that have never before been possible."

In the spirit of collaboration, the iCrossing Collaboratory will be hosting a "hatch" for attendees at the Digiday Agency Summit in Palm Springs, CA on February 19-21, 2014. Participants will be broken into teams and challenged to "hatch" an innovative solution to a brand's real-world business problem. Each team will have the opportunity to present their idea to a panel of judges, and a winning team will be selected. Participants will be sharing real-time updates during the event on Twitter using the hashtag #hatch. Those attending the Digiday event and interested in participating can register at: http://icrsng.com/1aS2jO3

About iCrossingiCrossing, recently named a "Leader" in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for global digital marketing agencies builds connected brands for some of the world's most recognized companies including Beam Inc., The Coca-Cola Company and LG Electronics. The agency combines its expertise in media, creative and analytics to create moments that build close relationships with brand and their customers in real time. iCrossing, a unit of Hearst Corporation, is headquartered in New York and has 900 employees in 17 offices globally. For more information, visit www.icrossing.com or its social spaces.